The Financial Reporting Council was not “strong enough” to tackle business and audit scandals that have provoked soul-searching in the sector and a revamping of corporates governance rules.

“Were we complicit or in some way responsible for corporate failure? Well, it’s probably arguable that as a regulator we weren’t anywhere near as strong enough, we weren’t big enough, and we weren’t transparent enough to make a difference to the system,” Sir Jon Thompson, chief executive of the regulator, told The Financial Times.